NHK News Headline Sparks Online Debate Over Grammatical Ambiguity

An NHK News headline has ignited a major debate on social media regarding its grammatical expression. The sentence in question is: 「クマに庭で飼われていた犬が連れ去られる」(Kuma ni niwa de kawareteita inu ga tsuresarareru).

Many users pointed out the possibility of misinterpreting the headline as "the dog was kept by a bear," criticizing the unnatural word order for giving the impression that "the bear was the dog's owner." One post, though critical, also showed a humorous reaction: "Why don't they realize it's strange to read it in that context? Is their reading comprehension messed up? It's not like it's Winnie the Pooh; what kind of bear is that?!"

On the other hand, some speculated about the headline creator's intention, suggesting they might have wanted to emphasize the bear's presence by placing it at the beginning of the sentence, treating "bear" as the most crucial element. In response, numerous more natural and less ambiguous alternatives were proposed, such as: 「クマが庭で飼われていた犬を連れ去る」(A bear takes away a dog kept in a garden) or 「庭で飼われていた犬がクマに連れ去られる」(A dog kept in a garden is taken away by a bear).

This incident highlighted a characteristic of the Japanese language where the position of the particle "ni" and the expression of the passive voice significantly influence the interpretation of meaning. There were also harsh criticisms questioning the media's awareness of Japanese accuracy, with comments like "the level of Japanese is too low," given that they are supposedly professional writers.

The debate surrounding this headline served as a reminder of how crucial word choice is in news headlines.

The Context

For non-Japanese readers, understanding the nuance of this debate requires a brief explanation of Japanese grammar. The particle 「に (ni)」in Japanese is highly versatile. It can mark the agent of a passive verb (e.g., "eaten *by* a bear"), the recipient of an action, a location, or even a time. In the controversial headline "クマに庭で飼われていた犬が連れ去られる" (Kuma ni niwa de kawareteita inu ga tsuresarareru), the sequence "クマに" (kuma ni) directly precedes "庭で飼われていた犬" (niwa de kawareteita inu, meaning "a dog kept in a garden"). While the sentence structure implies "the dog was taken away *by* a bear," the close proximity of "kuma ni" to "kawareteita inu" (kept dog), combined with the passive form of "飼う" (kau, to keep/raise), creates an immediate, albeit incorrect, association for some readers: "a dog kept *by* a bear." The ambiguity arises because if a dog were indeed kept *by* a bear, "クマに飼われていた犬" would be the correct phrasing. The debate underscores the delicate balance of word order and particle placement in Japanese, where even a slight rearrangement can drastically alter or obscure the intended meaning, especially in concise news headlines.